The fast-food business is generally associated with inexpensive food and plain décor. It is rarely associated with healthy eating. But one U.S. chain has adopted a higher quality approach, so far with success.

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL (New York symbol CMG; www.chipotle.com) is a Denver-based Mexican-restaurant chain. The company charges slightly higher prices than fast-food chains, but it offers higher-quality …read more »

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on specific stocks and other investing topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions.

This …read more »

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away.

Today’s tip: “There are 2 fundamental things …read more »

As the post-Christmas shopping season opens, we look at one of the most interesting growth stocks in the retail industry. This stock began by allowing shoppers to buy and sell items from the comfort of their home computers, but it has since aggressively added to the array of online transactions it handles.

EBAY INC. (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; www.ebay.com) operates the world’s …read more »

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions.

A question …read more »

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions.

This week, …read more »

The fast food industry is notoriously competitive. It can give rise to some powerful growth stocks—but it is not always easy for companies to keep growing. Today we examine the world’s largest pizza takeout chain to see whether it can sustain the success it has had in 2011.

DOMINO’S PIZZA $32.21 (New York symbol DPZ; www.dominos.com) is the world’s largest chain …read more »

TORSTAR CORP. $10.24 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.6 million; Market cap: $815.1 million; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.9 %; www.torstar.com) formed a 50/50 joint venture with Sweden’s Metro International S.A. in 2005.

This business publishes free daily newspapers for commuters in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. In April 2011, the joint venture launched new free papers in …read more »

These two well-established food makers are using different strategies to increase their sales and profits.

Heinz continues to expand overseas, while ConAgra prefers to focus on its domestic business. Both companies continue to cut costs and improve their efficiency.

Both strategies should help Heinz and ConAgra spur their longterm growth, and give them lots of room to keep raising their dividends. As …read more »

Technological advances can spur on some powerful growth stocks. However, when a company bases its future growth on the widespread adoption of a single technological breakthrough, it can also add risk.

Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq symbol ISRG; www.intuitivesurgical.com) makes the da Vinci, a computerized surgical system.

Guided by a miniature camera connected to a 3-D monitor, surgeons use the da Vinci to operate …read more »